Berlin goes Vegas in revue show by Jean Paul Gaultier
Courtney Tenz
October 5, 2016
Fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier takes his talents to the stage in Berlin by designing costumes for "The One." The new revue show is the most expensive and highest-selling to date at the Friedrichstadt-Palast.
Image: Sven Darmer
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Berlin goes Vegas in revue show by Jean Paul Gaultier
Fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier takes his talents to the stage in Berlin by designing costumes for "The One." The new revue show is the most expensive and highest-selling to date at the Friedrichstadt-Palast.
Image: Sven Drama
Gaultier brings Vegas to Berlin
Designer Jean Paul Gaultier may have retired his ready-to-wear line, but his love for creating grand, inspiring fashion has found a new outlet. Gaultier recently spent months designing the costumes for "The One," a Vegas-style revue show debuting October 6, 2016 in Berlin.
Image: Sven Darmer
A childhood dream
Gaultier was inspired to create a revue by a visit to the Friedrichstadt-Palast in 2014 to see the "THE WYLD" featuring the work of designer Thierry Mugler. As the story goes, Gaultier introduced himself to theater director Berndt Schmidt, saying, "I would simply love to design for one of the next Palast shows! Being able to design the outfits for a revue show was a childhood dream of mine."
Image: Bernhard Musil
Gaultier's star-studded career
Gaultier has become one of the most well-known fashion designers since his career began in 1976. He's not only created daring clothing for the runway, he's also worked with pop stars in developing their image. One of the best known is Madonna, whose "Blond Ambition" tour and videos featured Gaultier's infamous cone bra and tight corset.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Sparkling teamwork
For inspiration for "The One," Gaultier looked to numerous visits to the infamous Berghain night club, he told "The New York Times." The costumes, which were created with a team at the Friedrichstadt-Palast, include more than 50 new fabric patterns and nearly 150,000 Swarovski jewels.
Image: Sven Darmer
A taste of the underground
Spurred by Berlin's reputation as a party hub, "The One" follows a partygoer through the city's underground. It is said to be inspired by Las Vegas's glittering shows, featuring feathered headdresses on showgirls mixing with German singers like Brigitte Oelke and Roman Lob. Gaultier's hand is clearly evident in the costumes, which are heavy on bondage gear, body modification, androgyny and punk.
Image: Sven Drama
Out of this world
The look is one that Gaultier had perfected in the 1990s with costumes for the science fiction movie "The Fifth Element," when he adorned an android played by supermodel Milla Jovovich in what looked like a suit made of Ace bandages and other unusual alien undergarments.
Image: Imago/United Archives
Poised to set records
At 11 million euros ($12.3 million), "The One" has the largest budget of any show at the Friedrichstadt-Palast to date. So far, ticket sales have it on track to be the best-selling production at the theater, which had originally gained fame for its cabaret shows during the Weimar Republic era between the World Wars.
Image: Sven Drama
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Perhaps best known for his outlandish runway shows and haute couture lines of clothing, French designer Jean Paul Gaultier announced his retirement from the intense ready-to-wear cycle in November 2014.
Shortly after that, Gaultier sat in the audience at Berlin's Friedrichstadt-Palast theater, taking in a show filled with costumes created by fellow famous Frenchman Thierry Mugler and decided that such a performance had to be his next undertaking.
"I would simply love to design for one of the next Palast shows!" he told the theater's director, Berndt Schmidt, and the rest - as they say - is history.
At a cost of 11 million euros ($12.3 million), "The One" is the most expensive show put on at Berlin's 97-year-old theater, the Friedrichstadt-Palast. Even before its opening on October 6, 2016, the show has sold more tickets than any performance at the theater to date - and that includes cabarets featuring Marlene Dietrich during the Roaring 20s.
The costumes are typical of Gaultier, who has long designed for pop stars and celebrities, including those used by Madonna and her dancers during the "Blond Ambition" tour in 1990 and the unusually forward-thinking looks worn by the aliens in Luc Besson's 1997 film, "The Fifth Element."
In "The One," Gaultier worked with a team of 55 at the Friedrichstadt-Palast to come up with unique designs best suited for a dramatic effect on stage.
He combines brilliant colors and Swarovski crystals with unique, exciting patterns that contrast with the darkened stage and reference Berlin's infamous underground parties (including those at the nightclub Berghain). Glow-in-the-dark dervish-inspired dresses are adorned by dancers; acrobats take to the stage in barely-there bondage gear.
Click through the gallery above for more unusual designs from the production, because in the case of Gaultier's costumes, seeing really is believing.
